You have made a promise to yourself to be a better you, as you do every new years. There is a whole industry based around New Years Resolutions, but it has changed entirely. If five years ago you started a food journal on January 1st, by now you might have added the “My Diet” application on Facebook, which has about 520 daily active users.

With so many people searching the web right now, how are web based companies capitalizing on New Years? As people are Googling this week, whether it be for a new diet, exercise routine, budget planning, etc., will your website have something to offer?

I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with the SERPS for New Years Resolutions. Actually, there was only a handful of “resolutioners” that bid on the keywords “New Years Resolution“. I guess (in a nutshell) I expected a lot more creativity. There were hardly even any PSA type sites to help quit smoking (for those who made that their resolution).

Of course, some websites are not totally flexible and they may not have anything to offer when it comes to resolutions or capitalizations…fine. But for the most part, the job of Internet Marketers is to use swift tactics to stimulate the user into believing they have a reason to be at your website; whether it be for a New Year’s sale or the debut a new product. This gives them a chance to participate and engage with your brand, your commodity and keeping them there. So, if you are smart (and have budgeted correctly) you can make new years work for you just by using Social Media.

Ultimately, capitalization is defined as using something to one’s advantage; how is it that you can market YOUR brand to your advantage?

The #1 Top New Years Resolution is: To Lose Weight (not a surprise). We were all caught up in that resolution one time or another, if not still.

(Image is outdated but Blogosphere has grown and people still want to be skinny).

However, companies are still capitalizing on the scheme of “Losing Weight in ’08.”

“Weight Watchers International is debuting a billboard in Times Square in a campaign for the first quarter of 2008 that will include television and print ads, an Internet video and MySpace page.” What about Facebook? I think, Weight Watchers International should really be more attentive to their market. Don’t they know that people prefer Facebook over Myspace?!

Facebook Application Developers didn’t waste any time this New Years. They were really thinking about “capitalizing” on their New Years Resolution. Remarkably, there were 29 Active Applications with the keywords “New Years”. The New Year Resolution 2008 Application has 2,836 daily active users, compared to other applications; that is a very large number.

Of course the Blogosphere naturally goes crazy with the concept of New Years. Millions of boring “end of the year lists” to read, but Aaron Wall took a different approach. He wrote a new years resolution; not for himself (not that I know of) but for SEO Book. What is YOUR blog(s) or website(s) resolution?

In the case of other Social Media sites, there were 157,000 New Years Youtube videos. Nevertheless, it was common to see many New Years Day photos spreading around Flickr. In particular, many pictures depicting what New Years day and celebrations looked like from different perspectives and areas of the world.

With New Years now directly under our nose, can I ask: How will you make your 2008 different by using Social Media?